State lawmakers to extend expiring ticket-scalping law with new consumer protections

If you want to nab "Springsteen on Broadway" tickets online, resellers would have to fork over more info to buyers under new anti-scalping law near passage in Albany. (Richard Drew / AP)

ALBANY — The state Senate and Assembly have reached a deal to extend an expiring ticket-scalping law, with added protections, the Daily News has learned.

The law was set to expire at the end of the month, but will now run through June 30, 2021. Introduced Sunday night, the bill includes a number of consumer protections meant to better regulate the secondary ticket-selling market, officials say.

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Before a sale is completed, online ticket resale sites will have to disclose “in a clear and conspicuous manner” the total price of the ticket and how much of that is made up of service charges.

The bill also takes the first step toward allowing the sale of paperless tickets in New York — something Ticketmaster and artists like Bruce Springsteen have long advocated.

Supporters say paperless tickets thwart scalpers by requiring fans to buy ducats with credit cards and swiping the same card and showing ID when they get to the venue.

But critics, including ticket brokers, have argued that allowing venues to offer only paperless tickets would make it impossible for people to give tickets as gifts to friends and family.

Under the new bill, which is expected to pass before Wednesday’s scheduled end to the legislative session, professional sports teams can offer fans what is being called a membership pass that can be kept from being resold or transferred.

Teams would offer the pass at a discounted price for seating in venues or stadiums that have more than 30,000 seats.

The pass would guarantee entry to a specified number of games, with the seat assignments made no more than four hours before the start of the event. The seat assignments would change game-to-game.

The new bill would also prohibit scalpers from selling tickets prospectively, meaning they must have the ducats in their possession or a signed agreement that they will be getting the tickets before offering them for sale. They must also notify potential buyers if they don’t yet have the tickets in their possession.

If the tickets don’t come through, the sellers must refund any payments to the buyer within 10 days.

An online resale marketplace like Stubhub must post notice on their websites that the tickets being offered are on the secondary market and that the price may exceed the ticket’s face value. They must also state their refund policies.

State-sanctioned resellers could have their licenses yanked for up to three years if they use “bot” technology, which allows scalpers to buy huge numbers of tickets instantaneously. They also could have their licenses suspended for knowingly posting tickets obtained through the use of bots, which are already illegal in New York.

The state attorney general’s office, which in 2016 released a report that found widespread problems within the ticket industry, would have jurisdiction to enforce the law.